Category: Government

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Big Stink from the Swamp

Stink, stink, stink, stink, stink, stink, stink and more stink!

Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, Peter Strzok, Bruce Ohr, Aaron Solenski, Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Lisa Page, Andrew Weissmann, Susan Rice, Loretta Lynch, Cheryl Mills, Huma Abadin, Smantha Powers, Sally Yates, Jeannie Rhee, Eric Holder, James Clapper, John Brennan, Ben Rhodes, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Donna Brazile, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and Barack Hussein Obama. The list goes on and on.
It is a miracle the United States has survived. If Hillary Clinton had been elected as President, all of the corruption, pay offs, intimidation, collusion, bribing, blackmail and worse would have continued under the radar of the good citizens of our country. Donald Trump was not supposed to win; he did. Thank God.

Now it is time for surgery. The rot needs to be cut out. As Representatives Jim Jorden and Mark Meadows have said: Attorney General Jeff Sessions needs to do his job or step aside. There is corruption at the top of the FBI and Department of Justice. When Robert Mueller was Director of the FBI, he cleaned out the upper echelon of the FBI experienced, independent, and dedicated administrators only to replace them with them with those less experienced but staunch supporters of Obama/Clinton. Now it is his turn to be removed. Mueller and his band of corrupt attorneys need to be defunded and disbanded immediately. They have already spent $7 million taxpayer dollars in their witch hunt against President Trump with no finding of wrong doing. The only action they have taken is to destroy a man who gave nearly 40 years of his life for the good of the USA: General Michael Flynn. And Mueller did that by blackmailing Flynn with the threat they would go after his son if he, General Flynn, did not confess to lying to the FBI. In short, Mueller entrapped Flynn; itself an illegal act.

Just at the end of his term in office, Barack Obama moved many political appointees in the Justice Department and FBI into civil service posts where they became insulated against removal. All….. repeat, ALL of these individuals should be removed from their positions somehow and sent packing. They are the “Deep State” bent on fomenting turmoil, resistance, and sabotage inside the current administration. They must be identified and ousted.

The Clinton machine must be put under the microscope of Lady Justice. Whether another Special Counsel or by the Attorney General or the Congress, the Clinton machine and all those even remotely connected to it must be exposed for what they are and have been: corrupt, manipulative, and criminal. Worse than the Mafia. And they must be prosecuted when crimes were committed.

Now we have a past President, citizen Barack Hussein Obama, traveling around the world as a “Shadow President” abusing the privilege he was once awarded as US President. If anyone should be prosecuted under the Logan Act, it should be him. Who in the hell does he think he is. No private citizen has the right to attempt to conduct USA foreign policy independent of our government. That is exactly what he is doing. He even, by innuendo, is attempting to personify President Trump as a potential Adolph Hitler. Obama needs to be shackled. In the eight years he had in office, he did more to weaken our country both internally and externally than any in the history of the USA. He did more to bring turmoil to the world and strength to our enemies than you can imagine; that with Hillary Clinton by his side.
It is well past time for the justice surgeons to get out the scalpels and excise the DeepState.

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DACA Hysteria

Many, including CEO’s of large corporations, just don’t get it. DACA was an illegal executive order promulgated by then President Barack Obama when he could not get Congress to act. It was never legal and Obama knew it. He said this himself publicly many times. It was an order that violated existing immigration law from inception and violated the Presidential oath of office. In case you don’t know enough about the Constitution of the United States of America, the Executive branch (i.e. that branch headed by the President) does not make law. It only has the power to enforce law passed by the Congress of the United States.

So, the whining, crying, and gnashing of teeth by those affected and the executives of companies complaining about the ending of DACA need to direct their venom at Congress, not at the President. President Trump took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution and law, not make law or violate it. To make law unilaterally, as did President Obama, he/she would need to be dictator or king; neither of which we have in this country, however much so Obama thought.

The fact under existing law is the “Dreamers” are in the United States illegally regardless of how young they were upon arrival. Their parents are or were in this country illegally as well. Those are the bald facts.
If the “Dreamers” are to be treated differently, it is up to Congress to pass legislation that would change their status. Simple.

Whether or not to do so, there are facts to be considered. The 800,000 or so people who are “Dreamers” in large part have jobs or are in the educational system somewhere. One has to wonder what United States citizens don’t hold those jobs now occupied by or have educational and tax paid social benefits used by the “Dreamers”.

There are over 90 million US citizens currently unemployed. There are tens of thousands of United States citizens who have graduated from colleges and universities burdened with tens of thousands of debt but unable to find a job. Should they bow to the wants and needs of the “Dreamers”? If so, something is seriously amiss.

If Congress is to consider a special status for individuals who were brought illegally into the United States by their parents or otherwise, it must proceed carefully. Congress would be derelict of duty and in violation of their oath of office if “Dreamers” were put ahead of or given preference over young United States of America citizens.

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GOP Do Nothing

The Republicans in Congress are a disgrace, especially in the failed Senate. The folks in “fly-over” country are getting damned mad at the lack of action on President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Take health insurance: the Republicans had seven years to be ready to move forward on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). What did they do? Nothing. People are hurting. People cannot afford the premiums and deductibles in many cases and in others they cannot even purchase insurance coverage. Now what do we hear: Congress is considering an extension of the Obama illegal bail out of the insurance companies; subsidies to them. Obama broke the law, said a federal court, when he took money from FNMA and Freddie Mac to support insurance companies [US House of Representatives v. Burwell 130 F. Supp. 3d 53, US District Court for the District of Columbia]. Now the GOP wants to put its blessing on taxpayer money for the same purpose. What is wrong? Inexcusable.

We learned Congress and Congressional staffers are covered by insurance subsidized by taxpayers. Congress does not live by the same rules everyone else does. They get special treatment. Again, what is wrong? It is reported President Trump has the power to end these Congressional subsidies. He should and quicker than you can blink an eye. They never should have existed in the first place. The Republicans had 7 years to correct this inequity and did nothing except feather their own nests. Inexcusable.
Now we learn the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are putting together a computer-based primary care allocation system for when private health insurance collapses. Looks like a single payer plan with “death panels”; all centralized in the federal government.

Then we have the slow boating of President Trump appointees. Movement has been seen recently, but the Republican Senate let Democrats rule. Senator Chuck Schumer wielded more power over how nominees were considered than did Majority Leader McConnell. It was clear who was in charge. It was not the Republicans.

And the restrictions in the Senate over the 60 vote rule; that should be abolished instantly. The Democrats abolished it over certain matters when they held control of the Senate. There is no requirement under the Constitution for a super majority vote to pass anything. The Republicans in the Senate could totally abolish this practice if they wanted to. It seems they don’t. The only reason possible is to provide cover and excuse for not dealing with legislation; then being held accountable. Cowards.

There is the situation with Russia. No collusion but to the continued delight of the Democrats, RINOs, and the deep state; the investigation continues to take time, energy, and, even worse, millions of taxpayer dollars. Again, inexcusable. Congress is even considering legislation that would restrict the President’s authority over the Special Prosecutor. The seriously flawed SP Mueller has conflicts of interests all over the place. The SP exists under the Department of Justice which is part of the Executive Branch, not the Congress. The CEO of the Executive Branch is the President. There is something called the separation of power under the Constitution.

Congress has passed legislation that restricts the President’s ability to make decisions about sanctions against Russia, North Korea, and Iran; all matters of foreign affairs that under the Constitution are Presidential purview and authority, not that of Congress. The President needs to be able to negotiate with other countries. The Constitution says so.

So, no skating on health care. It now has become a Republican albatross. Get Obamacare repealed and replaced as promised. Then on to tax reform and out of the business of the Executive Branch. Get these done or face the wrath of voters, particularly in the primaries, in 2018. It is that simple.

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Kokomo Population

The Kokomo Tribune July 27th page one headline: “Brainstorming ways to boost population”. I read that and thought, “Why?”.

The article said we are in for tough days ahead if our population does not grow. It said we are making less babies and then not keeping them. It said more people mean more income going to local retailers and services, and more tax revenue to fund local government. More… more… more!

I am wondering if anyone or any group has taken a step back to think about what an optimum population size for Kokomo and Howard County is? Or is the goal to grow population, housing, concrete, roads, sewers, schools, shopping centers, restaurants and more without any upper limit? Do we want Kokomo and Howard County to eventually be wall-to-wall people, concrete, and bricks and mortar? Has anyone thought about this?

I, for one, think Kokomo is just fine at its present number of people. I don’t want there to be more and more and more. I don’t want there to be loss of more and more of the richest farmland on the planet. I don’t want there to be loss of open space and country side. I don’t want there to be more and more traffic on roads.

What I do want is for Kokomo and Howard County to concentrate on improving the quality of life for people who do live here. I want higher paying jobs and education opportunities for Kokomo residents. I do want parks and open spaces and recreation opportunities and all the perks of life that are icing on the cake. I want no one to go hungry or be without a home. I want all our people to have access to good health care.

So, there are many worthwhile goals for our community without never ending population growth being one of them. Think about it.

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Obama's Travels

News Flash to B.H. Obama: you are no longer President. You are an ordinary citizen!

Citizen Obama should follow the lead of former President George H. Bush and other US Presidents before him. But, no, he is paddling around the globe, shadowing President Trump, with his nose in where it does not belong. This following a statement by Obama himself months ago saying, “There is only one President at a time.”, when he thought then nominee Donald Trump might meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

That is the Logan Act language passed by Congress in 1799; an act intended to stop any except official representatives of the President of the United States government from conducting foreign affairs with foreign governments.

In the Supreme Court case of the United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp in 1936, the Court observed the following: “The President alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation. He makes treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate; but he alone negotiates. Into the field of negotiation the Senate cannot intrude; and Congress itself is powerless to invade it. As Marshall said in his great argument of March 7, 1800, in the House of Representatives, ‘The President is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations.’”

Barack Obama; how guilty can you get? For example, one day after President Trump met with the leader of South Korea, President Moon Jae-in, Obama arranged a meeting with the Korean leader. If Obama discussed any topics related to US policy which do not agree with President Tump’s policies, Obama broke the law.

Then there was the meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Obama met with Merkel on the same day she later encountered President Donald Trump at the NATO summit meeting. What did Merkel and Obama talk about? Cannot imagine, but if anything about the relationship between Germany and the United States was discussed, it was in violation of the Logan Act.

One more: in early June, Obama met in Canada and had dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. News reports have it they discussed policy goals. If so, another violation of the Logan Act.

Obama said, “I try to make it a rule not to meddle in other people’s politics” before reeling off a dripping tribute to Merkel. “If I were here and I were German, and I had a vote, I might support her. But I don’t know whether that hurts or helps.” Meddling? You decide.

Obama does not understand he is now an ordinary citizen of the United States; not the President or a representative of the President. He is a “has been”, not an “is”. If he does not stop his meddling with foreign affairs, he should be prosecuted. Maybe he should be even now.

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Paris Climate Accord & Director Krull

The director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, John Krull, has done it again in his Tribune column of June 7th about President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. He refers to Trump’s decision as “dumb, bigly, yugely, and dumb”, again. He writes more like I would expect from MSNBC’s hysterical Morning Joe Scarborough or Rachael Maddow than as a responsible, knowledgeable journalist.
The Paris Climate Accord was yet another example of poor judgment by former President Barack Hussein Obama. Obama did not even have the courage to bring this agreement to the United States Congress for debate and agreement before he committed the United States to its terms. The Agreement terms put the United States at great disadvantage and would have cost taxpayers billions of dollars without commensurate benefit. The worst of the Paris Climate Accord was that the two largest polluters on the planet, China and India, would not have been required to reduce emissions, but in fact could increase them, until 2030. In the meanwhile, the United States has in fact already voluntarily reduced emissions to levels of over 20 years ago.
President Trump put America first. He has stated publicly he intends to encourage the development of cleaner energy sources. In almost the same breath when he withdrew the United States from the Paris agreement, he stated he was more than willing to negotiate a new agreement not so punishing to our country. He reminded all the United States is 20 trillion dollars in debt. We can no longer be the money bank for other countries, whatever the cause. It is up to them to deal with their own problems. This is particularly true for India and China who stood to receive United States monetary support from the Paris agreement. They are the biggest problems and we are not their savior. We need to deal with our own country and our own problems.
The climate is changing. Contrary to some right wing conservatives, the evidence is clear. There are dozens of biological indicators of change. I know of none that support ‘no change’ or insignificant change. The temperature of the planet is increasing on average. Ice caps and glaciers are melting. The range of insects, plants, and animals is being modified. Permafrost areas are melting. Sea levels are rising. There is no doubt about these.
What there is doubt about is exactly why and how much of change is due to human activity…. and conversely, how much can be influenced by behavior change by humans. We suspect root causes to be too many people and too much polluting industry. No one wants to address the former.
I am probably one of the strongest environmentalists around. I have demonstrated this beginning as long ago as the 1970’s when in top management of the Kokomo Tribune. I directed a survey of the Wildcat Creek water quality and helped to initiate the first Creek cleanup effort which continues today. The Tribune encouraged the improvement of the waste sanitation plant for better water quality discharge. The Tribune successfully opposed the creation of the Lafayette Reservoir which would have flooded over 4,000 acres of prime farmland. The Tribune was the recipient of the Izaak Walton League media award for conservation. There was more.
I believe the decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord was the right decision for the United States. It appeared too much to be a scheme for redistribution of wealth across the globe. Its terms were voluntary and not enforceable. We need to lead by example in all areas of conservation of natural resources, not be the suckers again to finance the rest of the world. Director John Krull is wrong again. One must question his qualifications to lead a university Department of Journalism.

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Jarrett on Mueller

[The following is a piece by Jarrett. I had to reprint it because it clearly paints the picture of the witch hunt against President Donald Trump]
GREGG JARRETT, ATTORNEY
FOX NEWS OPINION PIECE
May 23rd, 2017
What is Robert Mueller Investigating (since collusion is not a crime)?
Robert Mueller is tasked with finding a crime that does not exist in the law. It is a legal impossibility.
As special counsel, Mueller can engage in all manner of spectacular jurisprudence gymnastics. However, it will not change the fact that colluding with Russia is not, under America’s criminal codes, a crime. It’s just not there.
Maybe it should be. Perhaps someday Congress will pass a law criminalizing such conduct in political campaigns. But for now, there’s not a single statute outlawing collaboration with a foreign government in a US presidential election. Or any election, for that matter.
Why, then, are so many people who are following the Trump-Russia saga under the mistaken impression that collusion is a crime? Principally, because it is a loaded word with an historic criminal connotation.
“Collusion” became a prominent part of the legal lexicon when Benjamin Harrison occupied the White House and Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890 outlawing collusion in some business practices. Specifically, price fixing and other anti-competitive activities became a criminal offense under Section 1 of the Act. Almost overnight, the word “collusion”was converted into a legal pejorative.
But collusion is only criminal in an anti-trust setting. It has nothing whatsoever to do with elections. Yet that has not stopped the politicians, pundits, and journalists from either misunderstanding the concept and/or mis-construing its application to the Trump-Russia hysteria and has reached a deafening pitch.
Both the Department of Justice and the FBI seem equally oblivious.
Mueller’s marching orders: Under the law granting him legal authority (28 CFR 600), a special counsel is charged with investigating crimes. Only crimes. Nothing else. He has limited jurisdiction. Any other wrong doing uncovered in the investigation which does not rise to the level of a criminal offense cannot even be made public by the special counsel. That is the law.
So, what crime is Mueller instructed to investigate? Let’s take a look.
In his order appointing Mueller as special counsel (Order No. 3915-2017), acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein directed him to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump”.
But wait. If Mueller is supposed to look for evidence of a crime that is not, by legal definition, a crime … then isn’t the special counsel being asked to do something that is manifestly unattainable? Doesn’t the impossibility of his assignment render the exercise futile? The answer is yes.
The only conceivable crime is a tangential one. If it could somehow be shown that someone in the Trump campaign aided and abetted the hacking of the National Democratic Committee or the campaign of Hillary Clinton, then perhaps a criminal charge might be made. But as Harvard law professor Allen Dershowitz told Fox News, “I’m sure that didn’t happen”.
How can he be so sure? Common sense. There’s no evidence the Trump campaign had the technical expertise to hack anything. Knowing about a computer theft or even verbally encouraging it is not enough under the law. It requires an overt act that assists in the commission of the crime. It appears that no one, including the Trump campaign, even knew about Russia’s hacking efforts until after they were accomplished and made public.
Any related matters.
Rosenstein order to the special counsel authorizes him to investigate “any other matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.” This is the usual all encompassing phrase which allows a special counsel to run rampant in an almost limitless direction to dig up dirt on potential targets.
As I pointed out in a recent column, Mueller’s probe will inevitably morph into an investigation of President Trump’s meeting with James Comey and his subsequent firing of the FBI director. Amid partisan accusations of obstruction of justice the special counsel will surely examine whether the President corruptly attempted to influence, obstruct, or imped the due administration of the law, as the law defines it. (18 USC 1501)
If the President told Comey he hopes former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn could be cleared because “he’s a good guy”, it is not enough to sustain an objection charge. Hoping or wishing for an outcome is not the same as influencing, obstructing or impeding. Nor is firing the FBI director. As Comey himself admitted, the President has the Constitutional authority to fire him for any reason or no reason at all.
Furthermore, the term “corruptly” is specifically defined under {18 USC 1515)(B) as “acting with an improper purpose, including making a false or misleading statement, or withholding, concealing, altering, or destroying a document or other information.” The President’s actions do not come close to satisfying the requirements of acting corruptly.
The most recent accusation is President Trump asked two of his top intelligent officials, Daniel Coats and Adm. Michael Rogers, to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election. If Rogers and Coats had no such evidence of collusion, then asking them to tell the truth is not illegal. But at this point, we do not know what exactly occurred during those alleged conversations.
What we do know is that collusion in a political campaign is not, by itself, a crime.
How then, is it possible to obstruct the investigation of a crime…. which is not a crime?
-30-

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Dying 4th Estate

The founders of our Constitution laid the bedrocks of our nation in the three branches of government: Congress, the Executive branch, and the Judiciary. They built in many checks and balances to prevent any one branch of government from becoming all powerful. Following ratification by the states, the government under the U.S. Constitution began on March 4th, 1789. Congress then did one more thing. In September 1789, they adopted the Bill of Rights and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of the 12 amendments were ratified by December 1791. The United States of America began its journey.
The first of the amendments to the Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The founders knew government by the people could not continue without the free flow of information, news, and opinion. They knew people must be free to worship as they might choose. They knew people must be able to “peaceably” gather together to discuss and express individual and collective thought. They knew there must be a press — in those days only the printed press — that is free to bring facts, news, and opinion to the people. They knew. The “Fourth Estate” was born.
Two quotes are attributed to President Thomas Jefferson. The first is, “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”. The second: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter”.
What has happened to the Fourth Estate, the press? The Fourth Estate is no longer only the printed press but includes the electronic press. It has for decades. The so-called “national press” (the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC) have become weaponized. They spew gossip and propaganda every day in a steady stream. They hide behind anonymous sources and deep state leakers. They consistently violate about every principle of true journalism. They can no longer be called journalists but rather have become more like the Nazi propagandists of days of old. They cannot be trusted.
In the decades before the consolidation of ownership of the media — print and electronic — there were hundreds and hundreds of independently owned newspapers and radio stations in this country. This was true until about the 1980’s when consolidation accelerated. Before then, the hundreds went together to support the Associated Press and United Press International reporters who covered events in the nation and around the world in honorable, forthright, and truthful ways. The hundreds demanded that the highest principles of journalism be followed. In those days, radio and early television stations relied largely upon the stories printed in local newspapers as their news source. They rewrote what they read for their newscasts.
Fast forward to today. The Washington Post was purchased by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, in 2013 for $250 million. The story goes that he never looked at the accounting records of the Post. Bezos has political ambitions. He abhors President Donald Trump. He wants to be President himself. Most recently, he purchased the biggest home in Washington DC for $23 million. That should tell you something about his future ambitions. And do you think he might have something to say about what appears daily in the Post? The Post qualifies as an example of modern day Yellow Journalism; more fiction and propaganda than truth. Former Publisher Katherine Graham and Editor Ben Bradlee, both deceased, would be appalled at what has become of the Post.
And what about the New York Times? The New York Times has long been regarded within the newspaper industry as a national “newspaper of record”. Nearly 20% of the NYT Company is owned by Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim. The Times has historically been regarded as editorially a liberal newspaper. The last time it endorsed a Republican for President was for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, over 50 years ago. The Times has been used as a teaching tool in university level history and government classes for decades. The issue today is its editorial posture has spilled over into its “news” stories. Like the Post: more fiction and propaganda than truth and more hiding behind anonymous sources.
The electronic cable and television media: they still today rely on what is printed in the Post and the Times as news sources. Every broadcast begins with what headlines and stories are in two newspapers that have become corrupt and instruments of the Democrat Party and extreme liberals. People have become as sick of them as of the Washington DC swamp dwellers.
This nation deserves a free and independent press. It deserves a press that adheres to the highest principles of journalism. Part of these principles include never deliberately distort facts or context. They include identification of sources clearly so the public can judge the reliability and motivations of sources. Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may face danger, retribution or other harm, and have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere and explain why anonymity was granted.
We do not today have a national “free and independent press” in the New York Times and the Washington Post and the many electronic repeats. We have propagandists. Don’t trust them.

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The Dark Side

Do you remember Star Wars? It had the “Dark Side”. One does not need to look to Star Wars now to find the Dark Side. Those representing it are like Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Barack Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Moore, and George Soros. And we have propagandists from the Dark Side like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC. We must not forget the “never Trumpers”, RINOs, and commentators like Charles Krauthammer, Bob Beckel, Geraldo Rivera, and Juan Williams on Fox News. All have turned from being the loyal opposition to being loyal seditionists.
The people of the United States of America elected Donald J. Trump to be the President of the United States. They elected Republicans for the House of Representatives and captured Senatorial seats to give the Republicans a majority in both Houses of Congress. The Democrats were sent packing from elected positions all over the country. A major reason was that Donald J Trump lead the ticket at the polls. The people were sick of the status quo and the swamp of Washington, DC.
Our President faces fierce, vitriolic opposition from the “national” media, the Democrats, the globalists, and too many so-called Republicans. The opposition has not been constructive as historically expected from the party out of power. It has been destructive. It is designed to take down this Presidency and the country with it. Additionally, Republicans in Congress have been so weak-kneed that little major legislation has been effectively addressed. It is looking more and more like health care and tax reform will be delayed and delayed. Limbaugh said it right when he said Congressional Republicans have “b—s so small, they don’t need a jock-strap when out for a run!”.
Where the hell are they? Republicans should be circling the wagons around President Donald Trump. They should be defending him from Dark Side seditionists. They should be boldly moving ahead on the national agenda to bring back jobs, secure the border, build the wall, do tax reform, and deal with the crisis in health care. Instead they and the Dark Side have become enmeshed in bogus stories about Russians and alleged hacked elections. Bull!
The firing of James Comey created a storm when it was the best thing that could have happened to the FBI. Comey was either incompetent or shot with his own importance. He totally botched the investigations of all of the alleged criminal activity of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, Fast ‘n Furious, Lynch and Clinton on the tarmac, Benghazi, the Clinton-Russian uranium deal, the IRS and Lois Learner, and on and on. These were way beyond anything rational. Trump did not fire Comey from day one (probably should have) because the Trump administration simply did not have enough loyalists in place in the administration.
Even now we hear that of the approximate 1200 political appointee positions that need filling, only 500 or so have gotten through Senate approval. And who the hell is running the Senate: Chuck Schumer or Mitch McConnell. It sure looks like Schumer, the Democrat. No excuse for spineless Republicans.
It goes on. The Republicans must get their act together or they will lose the patience of the people who voted them into office. The country will suffer more than it has already. The Dark Side will win.

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Failing ACA

We hear the whaling and gnashing of teeth over what the Republicans are doing about health care insurance. The Democrats, liberal pundits, and liberal media are having a field day. What you do not hear is that Obamacare, Affordable Care Act (ACA) , was on a death spiral from the moment it was passed only by Congressional Democrats some seven years ago. We were told by the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Polosi, the bill had to pass before we could “see what was in it!”. What soon became crystal clear was the ACA was on a suicide mission.
From the very beginning, funding for the ACA was “funny money”. The insurance companies were assured not to lose money by the infusion of federal dollars through the back door. Premiums in the front door were not enough. Never were.
The solution: steal money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage backers in the United States. Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) had ongoing profits after recovery from the housing crisis around 2006-2008. The federal government had bailed Fannie and Freddie out from collapse with temporary loans of $187.5B in 2008 in the form of senior preferred stock with a 10% dividend designed to repay the US Treasury over a long period of time using that dividend. The “loans” to Fannie and Freddie had nothing to do with funding the ACA.
Both Fannie and Freddie are “Government Sponsored Entities” BUT are private corporations, not government corporations. Stock and bonds issued by both are sold into the private financial markets. Investors purchase these for private portfolios. Stock and bond values depend upon profits. The US Treasury became a temporary prop up much as was done in earlier years for the automobile industry.
But something happened in 2012. The Obama administration concocted a way to confiscate all profits from Fannie and Freddie indefinitely. The plan was to divert billions of dollars to pay essential Obamacare insurance subsidies that Congress had refused to permanently fund. The ACA has two pertinent sections: Sections 1401 and 1402. Section 1401 provided tax credits to make insurance premiums more affordable. This section was as added to a preexisting list of permanently-appropriated tax credits and refunds. Section 1402 reduced deductibles, co-pays, and other means of “cost sharing” by insurers. This section was not permanently appropriated and was to be funded annually by Congress. Remember, Congress is the only government entity that can authorize appropriations and that through the House of Representatives. They never funded Section 1402 (known as the “unfunded mandate”). Congress refused.
President Obama, through the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services, funded the ACA anyway by confiscating profits from Freddie and FNMA who earlier had been placed into a conservatorship in 2008 under the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This allowed taxpayer support for the bail out of Fannie and Freddie.
The problem: what Obama had initiated was un-Constitutional. Obama confiscated Fannie and Freddie profits without Constitutional authority. This was the finding of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Civil Action No 14-1967 (RMC). Without the hidden Fannie and Freddie profits in the back door, the ACA would collapse. Obama tried to skirt the Constitution.
He was caught.